Rocking for the Father of the Groove

In recent weeks the Southern Utah music community has come together for the Father of the Groove, Tim Cretsinger, owner of Groovacious in Cedar City and founder of Groovefest. Tim has often invited St. George musicians to play the second stage of Groovefest alongside their Cedar City brothers and sisters in an effort to better integrate the Southern Utah music scene. Last Friday showed the fruits of that effort as some of those musicians — and others from much farther away from Cedar than St. George — gave back to Tim, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in December. You can still donate here or at any local Mountain America Credit Union.

As music fans and friends of Tim arrived at Jazzy’s Rock N Roll Grill, they immediately had the chance to help by purchasing goods at a bake sale outside the venue. I picked up an excellent blood orange brownie and a scrumptious peanut butter bar made by singer-songwriter Lyndy Butler.

The first performer of the night was House of Sons, a young trio that surprised the crowd with their bluesy hard rock.

I had a chance to catch up with my former editor and mentor, Ed Kociela, who got to know Tim while serving as the Cedar City bureau chief for The Daily News.

Although I knew Ed played music as well, most of my musical interactions with him in the past were discussing music and his time as a music critic in Los Angeles. So it was fun to actually see him play some old classics.

Musician and promoter Gordon Strang was one of many organizers who put the fundraiser together. He is shown here announcing the winner of a drawing for a guitar.

Although Beans N Wheels is still fairly new to the Southern Utah music scene, they had a chance to play the second stage at Groovefest 2013 so they gave back with a harmonious performance at the fundraiser.

Another Groovefest 2013 second stage act was Lyonhead, a collaboration between guitarist Jared Johnson (formerly of Jared and the Jackpines, The Trigger Locks and Sundive) and Alice Ericksen (vocalist for Soul What?! and Middle of the Road as well as a member of John Houston’s Gospel Choir). They were the talk of Groovefest but have mostly concentrated on recording in the months since the festival so this was only their second performance.

I was mega-excited to see Lyonhead again after their stellar 20-minute set at Groovefest and Friday’s collection of all-original tunes did not disappoint. Jared has a reputation as one of Southern Utah’s best guitar players and he lived up to it.

And Alice is known as a powerhouse vocalist. She always brings her A-game and she outdid herself at the benefit. As a longtime friend of Tim’s, it seemed as if she was singing her heart out for him.

Making me even more excited for the event was the addition of Sala Tumanuvao to the lineup. I’ve become a big fan of Sala in recent weeks, catching three of her high-energy sets. Not only does she have a powerful voice, she brings the same passion to her fun, covers-heavy sets that she does to her own original songs. Sala has played the second stage at Groovefest multiple times and credits Tim with giving her the confidence to perform for others. Plus, she has Alice Ericksen as a performance coach and it shows.

However, rather than performing with the usual suspects of her group, Saluka, Sala instead teamed up with Edgar Campos, who is locally known for his own musical projects.

Closing out the night was a double set from The Shakers, a Los Angeles band that calls Southern Utah its second home. They’ve got to know Tim as well through their multiple performances in the region so they offered to make the long drive from Southern California to headline the fundraiser.

Part of the band’s success comes from the tight-knit cohesion they have as a band, especially between guitarist/backing vocalist Chris Lee and singer Jodie Schell.

The intensity of Jodie’s Gwen-Stefani-meets-Robert-Plant vocal stylings are an immediate draw. But she’s also a lot of fun to watch as she performs, especially with her always creative hand and arm gestures.

She’s part of the reason why The Shakers are one of my favorite bands to photograph. Jodie also showed her support for Tim by wearing a “Tim’s Army” shirt with a war cry against cancer on the back.

And then there’s her hair, which puts on a show of its own.

In fact, the flying hair is kind of a band trademark. Just watch drummer Nick Woods.

Even the new bass player, John Rogan, fits in well with his mane.

While Chris doesn’t have the hair, he is usually the easiest to photograph as he strikes all sorts of rock star poses with his red guitar.

All in all it was a fantastic show with six hours of music and hopefully a bunch of money raised for our friend Tim, who has given so much to the community since he and his wife Lisa moved here in the 1990s. Not only do they own the only record store between Las Vegas and Utah County, they in turn support other local businesses and organizations, including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Southwest Wildlife Foundation and various local arts events. And then there is Groovefest, which has grown to become a massive event while still remaining free to attend. Now that Tim is undergoing treatment for his cancer, he and Lisa still need the support of the community. If you’d like to support Tim there are a variety of ways. The Cretsingers are still dependent on Groovacious for their income plus they regularly dig into their own pockets to fund Groovefest, so donations to that even can help. If you want to donate specifically for Tim’s cancer treatments, you can do so at any local Mountain America Credit Union or via this link.